Phillies: Howard to miss 6-to-8 weeks

Philadelphia Phillies' Ryan Howard gestures towards the fans after hitting a solo home run during the third inning of a baseball game with the Atlanta Braves, Friday, July 5, 2013, in Philadelphia. The Phillies won 5-4. (AP Photo/Tom Mihalek)

PHILADELPHIA — Ryan Howard has a torn meniscus in his left knee, will undergo surgery and will be lost to the Phillies for anywhere from six to eight weeks, according to general manager Ruben Amaro Jr.

Such was the analysis of an MRI and an x-ray Howard underwent Monday.

Still unknown: Was that the reason Howard had struck out 95 times in 286 at-bats, and why the former MVP had hit just 11 home runs this season?

“I mean, it could be a combination of things,” Amaro said before the Phillies played the Washington Nationals at Citizens Bank Park. “When you have problems and you have discomfort, it’s hard to maintain your optimum level of production. So it could have something do with it, yeah.”

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Howard was placed on the disabled list Saturday.

“It’s somewhat of a relief just to be able to try and see what’s been going on,” Howard had said Sunday. “and see how I want to approach it and basically just go from there.”

Since the injury could have threatened Howard’s season, the Phillies were encouraged that he should be able to return by early September, if not sooner.

“We can only speculate the length of how long it is going to take him to rehab,” Amaro said. “But we will shoot for the conservative one and hope that it comes back faster.

“I’m encouraged,” Amaro added. “It could have been much more significant damage. Obviously we don’t want any of our players to be on the D.L. for long. But we know what it is. We know it is treatable. And hopefully we can have him back in time to play in the course of this year.”

The Phillies did not consider shutting Howard down for the season.

“No, we’re going to get him ready,” Amaro said. “We are going to rehab him as we would anybody, to make sure he’s ready and prepared to play here at his optimum level.”

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Amaro likened Howard’s situation to that of Erik Kratz, who joined the disabled list June 9 after a left meniscus tear. The Phillies are encouraged that Kratz already has resumed physical activity.

Kratz could return to the Phillies as soon as this weekend, Amaro said.

“Kratzy’s probably a really good resource for him, because after he had his surgery, he started feeling better,” Amaro said. “If there’s a tear in it, we’ll clean it up and hopefully he’s better afterward.

“He moved pretty quickly,” the G.M. added. “Hopefully, we will have the same time frame, but everybody’s knee is different.”

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Roy Halladay continues to show improvement from the right shoulder injury that has kept him on the disabled list since May 6.

“Roy’s throwing out to 75 feet, and at some point he’s going to get to 90 feet here, then 120,” Amaro said. “He’s moving pretty well. No setbacks so far. Hopefully he continues the progression of long-toss. At some point --- I don’t know what the date is --- we’ll get him off a mound.”

Halladay underwent surgery May 16. The Phillies have been hoping for his availability in September.

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Jeremy Horst will begin a rehab assignment with Class AAA Lehigh Valley beginning Tuesday. He has been on the disabled list since June 16 with a left-elbow strain.

“I feel really good,” Horst said. “It’s the first time I’ve been pain-free in a long time.”

Horst said he expected to pitch as many as three times with the IronPigs. The left-handed reliever was 0-2 with a 6.23 ERA in 28 Phillies appearances.

“It’s been a crazy year,” he said. “I feel like I was young the first time through the league, but all of a sudden, these guys know who I am. They’re coached to know. It is a challenge mentally to figure out how to go about getting these guys out on a consistent basis and inventing different ways and coming up with different stuff.

“You can say ‘bad luck’ or whatever it was. I would say it was ‘baseball’ early in the year. It’s just the way it goes sometimes.

“Sitting out these three weeks has been tough. I’ve never done it before. I’m ready to go.”

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With Howard out, Darin Ruf will have a long audition at first base. Charlie Manuel, however, reserves the right to replace him late in games for defensive purposes.

“I probably will,” the manager said. “There are times when you are winning a game that you want the best defense on the field. That doesn’t mean he can’t play good defense. It only means that someone else may be better than him.”

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NOTES: Cole Hamels (3-11, 4.38 ERA) will face the Nationals’ Taylor Jordan (0-1, 2.70) Tuesday at 7:05. Cliff Lee (10-2, 2.73) and Gio Gonzalez (6-3, 3.14) will pitch Wednesday. Thursday, it will be Kyle Kendrick (7-6, 3.90) and Jordan Zimmerman … The Chicago White Sox will visit for a three-game weekend series … The loss of Howard would not affect Amaro’s immediate roster-shaping plans. “No,” he said. “We’ll see how Darin Ruf handles first base then go from there.”